Through the Looking Glass by Liz Davies
As New Labour prepares the ground for a second term in government, Liz Davies provides a compelling insider's account of the annihilation of the party's internal democracy. For two years prior to the party conference of September 2000, Davies sat on the highest body of the party, its National Executive Committee. From this unique viewpoint she reveals in riveting detail the extent to which cynical doublethink has come to permeate the party's leadership. Focusing particularly on the frenzied attempts to prevent Ken Livingston from becoming London's next mayor, Davies details how Blair and his acolytes sought to manipulate every detail of the NEC's proceedings, repeatedly blocking open discussion and the counting of votes. With elected representatives rendered powerless in NEC meetings, full-time officials briefed selected journalists on what was being decided, often hours before the meeting itself took place. Davies chronicles Blair's evident discomfort in the face of close questioning at the meetings, and his impatience with even the mildest dissent. She exposes the hollowness of John Prescott's Old Labour credentials as well as the relentless manipulation of Margaret McDonagh, the party's hard-nosed General Secretary. She watches aghast as trade union representatives repeatedly defy positions adopted by their members, and while special interests, notably those representing business, twist policies to suit their needs. Employing a redoubtable independence of mind, as well as verbatim notes kept in each of the meetings, Davies provides an electrifying picture of the systematic corruption of a major political institution.
In this brilliant and painfully honest account of her journey through the labyrinth of New Labour, Liz Davies leaves us in no doubt that Britain is a single-ideology state with two pro-business factions, distinguished only by their manipulative skillsHowever, her message is not negative; it is inspirational: a call to those who value principle above spin, truth above illusion, to rejoin the great movement, now re-emerging, that will change the world. -- John Pilger
If you have principles in the Labour Party, unless they're those of compromise or abject surrender, you're going to get the big stick from Uncle Tony. Fortunately for Liz Davies, and for us, she's tough enough to take the trouble she creates. -- Mark Thomas
If you have principles in the Labour Party, unless they're those of compromise or abject surrender, you're going to get the big stick from Uncle Tony. Fortunately for Liz Davies, and for us, she's tough enough to take the trouble she creates. -- Mark Thomas
Liz Davies is a long-time political campaigner and a barrister. In 1995 she was selected to stand for Labour in Leeds North East, only to be disbarred from running by Labour's leadership. She was elected to the NEC in 1998 and again, with an increased vote, in 1999.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781859846094 |
| ISBN 10 | 1859846092 |
| Title | Through the Looking Glass |
| Author | Liz Davies |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Verso Books |
| Year published | 2001-05-17 |
| Number of pages | 216 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |